iiiSiiiiili 



mm 



mMsi 




- 








'"'V- 




0^ 

•0^ 


^o^lj., "^O^ 




<?<. 


rry" 






• ' ■• ' aV 


'\ 




O' . fi ' • 


' 


.' 







'•> 



•9' 













"O 








'- <^ 


•,^ i^ 




'^oV^' 


■^*o^ 


f*^^fe'' 




/°-, 


- 


.% 


V r 










-"^.T 


\.^ 




^ \ 






% ", 


'■% 


-'' P^ * <> 







w^- 

-^..r^ 






f: xO^_, 







^^ 



.^' ^ 



%^ 






» o,"^ 



.■^^' 






<^ 



^,. 



5. 



. "^ P. 















0<. 










... 


























*:> 


Oi- 


».*T5r" 




<?» 






.^^ 



V,, ♦ ■.-j/jt.-i-jf 



'^^ 



.v. ' A 



.-V 









•<i> ^ v% 









'y' 



> 



» * ' '. 

ill 






•7' 






^. 



•^o V'' 







: v-^^ 



>^ 
















:. "^^0^ : 




:. "^^o« o, 









'.-• *°-nK 






0^ %. *.T7^*- A 























/ «o 















'^0^ 

<^°^ 



"oV" 






i *.;o'* ^"J- 



,» f\J «^ "^ — 






4 o 






.V'' 




^oV" 




'AO^ 



















ORATION -^ ^, 



ON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



DELIVERED AT THE 



REQUEST OF THE CITIZENS OF BALDWIN CO., 



IN THE 



Representative Chamber, at Milledgeville, Oaf, 



ON THE 



16TH DAY OF JULY, 1845, 



BT HERSCHEL. Y. JOHNSON. 



MILLEDGEVILLE : 



1845. 






zrz 



O'^V 



1 '■ f 



MILLEDGEVILLE, July 16, 1845, 
Dear Sir — At a meeting held this day at the Court House, the undersigned 
were appointed a Sub-Committee, to express to you, the gratitude of the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements, for the able and satisfactory manner in which, you per- 
formed the duly assigned you. of delivering a Funeral Oration on the occasion 
of the death of General Jackson, and to request a copy of the same for publica- 
tion. 

In performing the pleasant duty assigned us, permit us individually to solicit 
your compliance with the unanimous wishes of the Committee of Arrangements. 
Very Respectfully, Yours, &c., 

N. C. BARNETT, 
J. W. A. SANFORD, 
T. FORT. 
Col. H. V. Johnson. 



MILLEDGEVILLE, July 21st, 1845. 
Gentlkmen — i have had the honor to receive your note of the 16th inst., in 
behalf of the Committee <-f Arrangements, expressing their gratitude for the man- 
ner in which I discharjied tlie duty assigned me, of delivering a Funeral Oratmn 
on the death of General Jackson, and requesting a copy of my address for publi- 
cation. I assure you gentlemen, it affords me peculiar pleasure to learn that my 
poor services were acceptable. The task was an exceedingly delicate one, ow- 
ing to the difference of opinion amotigst us upon the political principles of Gen- 
eral Jackson. I felt deeply impressed with the responsibility of my position. I 
honestly endeavored to use not one word which could give oflence to any. Such 
caution was due to the leelings of those opposed to me in political opinions, as 
well as to the proprieties of the solemn occasion. If I was successful in my sin- 
cere desire not to infringe upon the feelings of any, I am highly gratified. If up- 
on careful perusal, the address contains any thing calculated to wound the most 
sensitive, I shall deeply regret it. 
The address is herewith handed you, with all its imperfections. 

Your ob't. serv't., 

H. V. JOHNSON. 
Messrs. N. C. Barnett, ) 

J. W. A. Sanford. > Committee, 
T. Fort, S 



ORATION, 8cC, 

Fellow-Citizens: — 
At the utmost limit of his attainable greatness, 

* * * * "O how weak 

Is mortal man! — how trifling — how confiti'd 
His scope of vision!" — his life how floeting? 
In the pride of his intellect, he sours to the loftiest snumiit of earthly renown; 
he rules nations; he leads armies; he stamps the iinj^ress of his character upon the 
age, in which he lives; and he gives a direction to his mighty energies, which ex- 
erts a controlling influence upon the destinies of unborn generations. But alas! 
tinge's resistless current bears him on to eternity, heedless of the shouts or tears of 
applauding or weeping millions. 

"Where are the heroes of the ages past? 

Where the brave Chieftains, — where the mighty ones, 

W'ho flourished in the infancy of days? 

All to the grave gone down! * * # # 

The grave, where all earthly distinctions are abolished — where the |)hilosopher 
sleeps beside the fool, the lordly owner of '-the cattle on a thousand hills," beside 
the child of penury, and the victorious conqueror beside the humblest of his un- 
honored soldiery. "Dust to dust." is the irreversible law of our nature, and noth- 
ing but Omnipotence can stay its operation. t)h! if gigantic intellect, or noble 
heart, glowing with holiest emotions of patriotism, integrity and truth, or years of 
laborious toil for the public good, in tented Held or council hall, or the overflowing 
gratitude of a free and happy people, coidd averl the unerring shaft of deatti. the 
heroes of our Uevolutionary struggle,-onr Wasbingtons, Jefiersons. Franklins 
Madisous, Greens Montgomeries — had yet lingered in the land which iliey lan- 
somed from the thraldom of British oppression. But these have passed froin the 
•tage of action, embalmed in the tears ol iheii grateiil countrytnen, and live only 
in the thrilling story of their achievements And we are again siinunoned to pay 
the last tribute of nUional respect to still another of our country's benefactors, 
who has been torn from our embraces atifl aflfeciions. by the iron hand of death. 
Once more, we adopt the mournful language ot the prophet — 

"How are the mighty fallen, and tlie weapons of war perished!" 
An'drkw IacksOiV is no more! — His soul has gone to judgment, — his body to the 
grave! The deep groans of artillery which awoke the sun from his Ea.stern cham- 
ber; the vast audience before me, assembled at the sound of funeral music; the sa- 
ble drapery which clothes in mourning this spacious hall and those silent images,* 
fully alie.st the feelings which the occasion has excited. With one common im- 
pulse, and in obedience to a common sentiment of our nature, we li.ive come up 
hither, to join in those manilestations of reverence and gratitude which pervade 
our wide spread land. 

This illustrious man lived beyond his 'three snore vears and ten." And yet, how 
reluctantly we consign him to the tomb! — Though bowed beneath the weif^ht of 
age and infirmities and for the last eight years, confined to the retirement of the 
Hermitage, still, he filled a large space in the public eye. and seemed to be almost 
evi;r present to the public mind, riince he descended from the "watch-tower" of 
active service, scarcely a week hasalapsed, but his opinions of men and measures 
have been frankly and freely expressed. And if not convinced of their correct- 
ness, who dill not listen to them with interest and defference? Whether heeded 
or not, his voice never iailed to gam the attention of the American enr. Amid the 
storms of party conflict and the acrimony of political debate, he was regarded and 
revered as almost the last link that connected us with the virtuous and heroic a^e 
of our revolutionary fathers. Having devoted the vigor of his manhood and the 
energies of his mind to the service of his country, none doubted that he loved her 
with a fervor bordering on idolatry. His protracted experience in poblic aflairs, 
the clearness of his views, the usual correctness ot his conclusions and the force and 
evident honesty with which they were communicated, gave the highest imporiance 
and value to his counsel. Ever jealous of his country's prosperity, he continued 
to watch with unsleeping vigilance, every movement which involved her domestic 
interest or her reputation abroad. His solicitude for our territorial rights ceiLsed 
only with the pulsations of his patriotic heart, whose late.st aspiration was, that no 
part of our country should "ever be submitted to any arbitration itiit of the can- 
non's mouth"! The negotiations which are now pending for the annexation of 
Texas, and the unsettled question of title to Oregon, wiiliOreat Britain, awaken- 
ed his liveliest anxiety. Whatever may be the variety of opinion entertained a- 
raongst us, upon these grave subjects, all admit their importance, their extreme 
delicacy and the necessity for great firmness in the administration, tempered with a 

* Full length portraits of Franklin and La Fayette. 

t Vid. William Tyack'a "Diary about General Jackson." 



wise and judicion? forecast. Upon these tne;isnres the continued connsel of (ren- 
erii! .liickson would have been exceedingly vahiabie. Who if it had been possi- 
ble fo have retained then), would have dispensed with his well matured opinions 
upon these subjects? No man in the United States possessed such nnbonnded 
popniarity and sway, over the public mind. His approbation would have given 
strength to the govenuneiit, in any course of policy which it may adopt, in refer- 
ence to our intercourse with foreign powers. It would iiave rallied lo its support, 
with additional enthusiasm, a vast major ty of the people; and, in the evetit of a 
possible rupture with Mexico or Great Britain, it could not hive failed to act as a 
salutary check upon their impudence and arroganee. — The Lion would have been 
more placid, while the Eagle reposed in the branches of the "Old Hickory" tree. 
Wherefore vve yield reluctantly, thongh uncomplainingly to our indispensible be- 
reavement. 

But similar have been the dealings of Providence toward us in by-gone days. It 
wasata time, when the country thought they could spare him least that Washington 
died: — when the Union was shaken from centre to circumference, by the great contest 
between Jefferson and the elder Adams for the Presidency, animated and embittered 
by the popular indignatiouagainstthe Alien and Sedition laws; — it was at a time like 
this, when his potent voice might have disarmed the maddened elements of their fury, 
that the Father of his country vvas called to his high ri;ward. It wa.s when a vast 
majority of the people, looked for promised •relief and reform," and believed tliat 
fte wasthe man for the crisis, that President Harrison died. And now, amidst del- 
icate and vexed negotiations, involving not only the interests o( America, but per- 
haps the peace of the world, he whose voice was mure commauding than any oth- 
er living man's, — Andrew .fackson has died. How powerful the demonstration, 
that "God's ways are not like man's ways!" Let his afflictions teach us as a peo- 
ple to lor)k to Him for guidance and protection rather than trust in an "arm of 
flesh." 

It is tliotight by many, that, having retired from public life, General Jackson er- 
red in the exhibition of so much solicitude in reference to the administration of the 
government. Not so. — But if he did, how natural! — how pardonable! America 
is the country of his parents' adoption, as an asylinn (Vom the oppressions which 
they endured in their native land. In her bosom sleep their remains, with those 
of two of his brothers, who died in her defence. With no other kindred on eanh. 
he adopted her as his fostering mother. She had inirtured, cherished and honor 
ed him. He had suffered in her defence. He had repelled the insult oti'ered to her 
by a foreign foe. His history cotistitutes a portion of her proudest antials, and hei 
fame is identified with liis own. Her governu)enl. her laws, and her institutions, 
he considered the best calculated to promote the happines's and elevation of man 
He regarded this as the "only country on earth, where man enjoys freedom; where 
its blessings are alike extended to the rich and the poor."* And m his own per- 
sotiai experience, he knew well the cost and value of thai freedom. How natiiial 
therefore, as a patriot and a philanthropist, that he should continue to manili^st 
anxious concern for her public affairs! It was the solicitude of an affectionate 
child for the welfare o( a dear ;ind valued n)Other. If it was an error, the chasten ' 
ed adiniration, with which we contemplate it. over his ftesh filled grave, carrie < 
with it a heartfelt pardon. 

PelUnv-citizens. i feel overburdened with the dtity.you have enjoined upon me. 
The subject is far too magnifi ent for my fietjle powers. How shall I bring an 
offering which will meet the feelings of the occasion, and prove worthy the lofty 
theme.' To portray the life, character, and services of such a man as Andrew 
Jackson, in all their blended variety of hghis and shadows, within the limits of a 
popular address, were a labor equal to the capacities of the most gifted minds ant", 
eloquent tongues of the land. 

Nor is the task less delicate, than laborious. That he merits profound gratitud J 
for his services and should be revered and honored, is a proposition which will not 
be controverted by any within whose l)osom, throbs an American heart. A brilliant 
career, of nearlv thirty-five years, in the service of his country, has identified him 
with her fame and her glory. Gigantic intellect, fervor of heart, purity of patriot 
ism. and honesty of ptirpose, are awarded to him by all. And all who are candid 
acknowledge, that he had his foibles and his faults. Howbeit a minute exatniii!'- 
tioii of his actions and their attendant circumstances, will generally show, 
that his faults were the exuberances of strongly marked virtues, and like th s 
shades ofa well executed painting, give them prominence and relief But so di- 
versified and eventful has been his life, and so confiicting the opinions of his conr- 
trymen as to the correctnessof some of his most prominent measures, that it isd:t 
ficult to consider his public services in detail, without wounding the feelings of 
many, whi) are as ready to do honor to his memory, as his most devoted friends 
and warmest admirers. But his history furnishes ample materials for the exerci- 
ces of this solemn occasion;— topics on which, every American citizen, of whatev 

* His address to the people of Louisiana, preparatory to his marclnng to NevT 
Orleans, Vid. Eaton's Life of Jackson, p. 264. 



f.r party, can dwell vvitli admiraiiou and delight, as develloping those splendid 
({ualilie^ uf luind and iu?art, wliich endear his name and combine to form a charac- 
ter, worthv the ajji; and tiie repul)li(; which gave hitn to tlie world. To a few of 
th>'se let ns continu onr retli'clions. As Ainerii;ai s, we all love and revere iiiin. 
A- Americans we have met here to mingle our sorrows over his lotuh. Far i)e it 
I roin me, to strike a string whicii may wake a note of painful discord, in the harmo- 
ny of our common grief. 

Fellow-citizens, ailow m", to bespeak your patience in advance not fortny, 
sake. lt:it for the sake of the subject iind the occasion. To appreciate the chirac- 
ter and services of (ieneial Jackson, it becomes necossarv at the hazard of tedions- 
ness, to take a rapid glance at some of the prominent occurrences of his eventful 
life. 

Its dawn, though not hrilli.mt, is nevertheless interesting because attended by 
the development, at a very early age. of those attributes of greatness by which, he 
achieved so much for l.is country. His parents nnrenovvned in the pages of his- 
tory, except in the refli'cted glory of their son, tired of the oppression.s heaped up- 
on thelal)oring poor, by the nobility of Ireland, emigrated to .'America in the year 
]7G">, and located in the Waxs.tvv settlement in South Carolina. On the Joth day 
of March, 1707, .Andrew .lackson vias born; and in a few days thereafter, his fatiier 
died, leaving him and two other sons to the fostering care oi'a widowed mother, in 
a land of strangers. an(J at a period too, when our political horizon began to be 
skirted with the clouds of our Revolution. Ttie paternal estate being sufficient, to 
afford liut little more than a comfortable subsistence, Andrew was the only one of 
the sons, whom' their mother attempted to educate, beyond the rudiments of the 
Eni'lish tongue. Her pious heart consecrated him in childhood to God. and she 
des^igned huu for the elevated and noble ollice of the Gospel ministry. — Napoleon 
onc'j asked. "Wliat is wanting that the youth of France may be educated.'.' — "Mo- 
THKiis,' replied .Vlad-iuie Champaii. In this sense Andrew ,[ac!;son truly had a 
mother. — not perlnps possessing theeu)bellishments of polished eilucatioii;— buta 
muher of strongly mirked character, endowed with a vigorous mind and a heart, 
the seat of all the virtues which adorn woman most. In the school of oppression 
ill her own couuliy. slie had learned patience, to iiidiire its ills; but she had learn- 
ed also, to di-'pise the rod that indicted them. The love of God and liberty, was 
the first great les-on wliich she instilled into the mind of Andrew. The one. she 
exemplified in her own pious walk; the other, she enferced by her frequent recital 
of the sulferings of his grand-father at the siege of Carikfurgiis . If the remark of 
Bonaparte be true, that ^the fate of a ciiild is always the work of his mother," 
what a debt of gratitude is due by America, to the mother of Jackson! No marble 
slab denotes her res ing place, but what a monument she has erected to her mem- 
ory, in the undying fame of her .«onl 

At the age of luiirteen years, the prosecution of his education being suspended 
by the ravages of the Revolutionary War, his ardent temper, stimulated by the ad- 
vice of his mother, prompted him to accompany his brother Robert to the Ameri- 
can Camp and unite his fate with that of his country. But unfortunately they were 
both soon taken [irisoners by Major ColHiis' Dragoons and a company of tories. 
This situation atnu'ded Andrew an opportunity of exhibiting that undaunted cour- 
age and iiiiflinciimg firmness, by wliich. in after life, he vvon such honors for him- 
self and his couutrv. He was peremptorily commanded by a British officer to 
brush his boots. The indignant blood mounted to his face, and his kindling eye 
flasliing defiance, he positively refused and claimed to be treated as a prisoner of 
war. in the power of an honorable enemy. Behold the man exhibited in the boy! 
Such bearing should have excited the admiration of a magnaiiiinous foe and have 
staved the uplifted blatic i5ut no. The officer struck liim with his sword, and ia 
throwing up his left arm to avert the l)low, Jackson received the first wound in de- 
fence of his country. — lis scar accompanied him to the grave. For like disobe- 
die'ice. Robert received a gish on his bead, which ultimately terminated his life. 
They were both thrown iuio jail, where they sutVered with di.sease and want, till 
reliHved by Captain Walker of the militia, in an exchange of prisoners shortly af- 
ter the battle of Camden. Overwhelmed with grieffor the recent death of her son 
Robert, and exhausted by exertions to procure comforts for the suffering prison- 
ers, iiis mother ■ioon died; and liis iddesi brother having fallen at the balte of rftono, 
Andrew was now left an orphan in the wide world, without rel.itions, to carve his 
fortune and shafie his destiny. Woe heiide that son of Britain, who in after years 
shall come in conllicl with his arm, nerved to avenge his (alien kindred! 

Andrew Jacksou seems to have had no further connexion with the active toils of 
the revolution. But he drank dee[)ly of its spirit; and by wiluessing the inaueiivers 
and evolutions of sonn- of our most skilful commanders, he acquired lessons in 
warfare, whicii av.iiled him in his subsequent career. Having riigained his health, 
he resumed and completed his education, as far as the times and his means would 
allow Ab iiidoiiing :i preparation for the pul|)it, he commenced the study of law 
in i7Rl, uuiler Mr. Spruce .McKay of .Salisbury, North Carolina, completed his 
studies under Col John Spfiice. and in 17^j(), w.is admitted to the b.ir. .Now cast 
fairly upon the tide of life, with the cares and responsibilities of manhood upon 



him, he snrveysg its turbulent surHice, and resolves to bend his course to the wrids 
of the West. That region presents its forbidding aspects; — its toils and privations. 
Bnt his active spirit pants for scenes of adventure, which will give play to his en- 
ergies and gratify the throbbing impulses of his young ambition. Accordingly he 
accompanied Mr. McNairy, the first Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, 
to that territory, and in October, 178H, he arrived in Nashville. There he open- 
ed a law office, and by promptness and fidelity, in the face of obstacles whicli de- 
manded the exercise of great firmness and perseverence, he soon realized a profi- 
table practice. Rising rapidly to distinction, he was appointed by President VVash- 
ington to the office of Attorney of the United States lor the District, which he held 
for several years with credit to himself. In 1796, he was elected a delegate to the 
Convention at Knoxville, which formed the present admirable constitution of 
Tennessee. The part which hearted in that body, placed him prominently before 
the people, and in the same year, on the admission of Tennessee into the Union, 
he was elected a member of Congress from that Stale. — But higher honors await- 
ed him, and without solicitation on his part, at the call of his State Legislature, on 
the 22d day of November, 1797, betook his heat in the Senate of the United States. 
In the following year, the Alien and Sedition laws were passed, which forms one 
of the most interesting and remarkable eras in the history of our government. — 
Remarkable for the display of the eloquence and ability of its statesmen; remarka- 
ble for the bitterness of party conflict; remarkable for the light which was shed by 
its discussions upon the Constitution of the United States; remarkable for the deep- 
drawn line of distinction, between the Federal and Republican schools of politi- 
cians; remarkable for the memorable contest for the Presidency between Mr. Jef- 
ferson and the elder Adams. In this struggle, involving principles organic in their 
character, Andrew .iackson did not hesitate as to his position; — he rallied to the 
Republican standard, and in opposition to those odious raeasnies, the offspring of 
Federal legislation, he stood side by side, with Anderson and Bloodwortli; Brown 
and Foster; Green and Langdon; Livermore and Martin; Mason and Tazwell.* 

Whatever may have been the aspirations, naturally incident to so vigorous an 
intellect and ardent temper, Andrew Jackson made his ambition subservient to the 
public good; and he never retained an office for the love of place, when his coun- 
try could be better served by others. Hence, he resigned his seat in the Senate- 
after the first session, to General Smith, whom he thought better quahfied for the 
duties of so responsible a station. He was immediately appointed one of the Judg- 
es of the Supreme Court of Tennessee; but for reasons like those which induced 
him to retire from the Senate, he soon left the Bench, and settled a farm ten miles 
from Nashville, known now as the Hermitage and hallowed as the last resting 
place of his mortal remains. 

But, having been commissioned a Major General in the Tennessee Militia sev- 
eral years previously, his rural repose was soon disturbed by the thunders of war. 
Under the pretext of retaliation on Franco, Great Britain, for more than six years, 
had kept up the mo.st unprovoked and arrogant war upon our commerce; — im- 
pressing our seamen and compelling them to bear arms against their own country; 
seizing and confiscating our vessels with their cargoes; and in a word, usurping 
by her "Orders in council," the monopoly of the seas. Against such outrages, our 
government remonstrated, until further remonstrance was degradation and shame- 
ful submission. For in the striking la?iguage of Mr. Madson, the world '-beheld 
on the side of Great Britain, a state of war against the United States, and on the 
side of the United States, a state of peace towards Great Britain." — And to wound 
ns in a more tender point, she saughtto sow the seeds of disaffection to the Union 
among our citizens, and sent emissaries among the Indian tribes which swarmed 
upon our borders, to excite them to hostility and nuirder. And as if to add insult 
to injury, she assumed in her diplomacy the absurd and preposterous position, that 
we should only prosecute our trade with the continent, through her ports. Her 
pertinacious adherence to such a doctrine, enforced by her intolerable aggressions 
upon our commerce, exhausted our forbearance and on the lyth day of June, 1812, 
the President issued his proclamation of war against Great Britain. At no period 
in the history of our government, has there been more fearful excitement, between 
the two great parties which have always existed in the United States. Now. as in 
1798, and '99. the Federal was arrayed againi«t the Republican party. The for- 
mer, with a few honorable exceptions, sympathi.sing wilti the enemy and, advoca- 
ting submission and national degr.idation;— the latter, "believing that the freeborn 
sons of America, were worthy to enjoy the liberty, whifh their fatbers purchased 
at the price of so much blood and treasure, and seeing in the means adopted by 
Great Britain, a course commenced and persisted in. which might lead to a loss of 
national character and independence, felt no hesitation in advising resistence by 
force, in which the Americans of that day would prove to the enemy and to the 
world, that we had not only inherited that liberty which our fathers gave us, but al- 

* These composed the minority in the Senate, opposed to the Alien and Sedi- 
tion laws; — Jackson's name is not recorded among them, being absent from hie 
seat on necessary business, when the vote was taken. 



80 the will andpoioer to maintain it."* In the intrepid ranks of the Republican 
hosts stood Andrew Jackson; and when the cry " To armsr' pealed through the 
length and breadth of the land, his noble bosom reponded to the call of his country, 
and panted for the strife which should humble the proud "mistress of the seas." 

Now a field of labor and a harvest of glory open before him. No sooner had 
ihe acts of Congress of February and July, 1812, authorising the President to ac- 
cept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, been promulgated, than he appealed 
to the citizens of his own military division; and anon twenty-five hundred men 
rallied to his standard. In pursuance of the direction of the President, on tne 7ih 
of January, 1813. he proceeded with his troops, through cold and ice down the 
Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to Natches, where he was instructed to await further 
orders Shortly after his arrival, he received orders to dismiss his command and 
aarrender every article of public property to Bri-iadier General Wilkinson. 
Looking to the effect ofguch an order and its utter incompatibility with all^the cir- 
•umstances of the case. General Jackson at once doubted, whether obedience was 
his duly. His sick list numbered one hundred and fifty, more than one-third of 
whom, were unable to raise their heads. To obey was to consign them to intense 
suffering, despair and death, a thousand miles from home, in an almost untrodden 
wilderness. What could be the object of such an order? Could it be to force the 
volunteers into the regular service? That General Wilkinson intended to make it 
available for such a purpose, was evident from his conduct. But so unworthy and 
foul a design. General Jackson was unwilling to ascribe to the government. And 
yet it was so viewed by his troops, and such would have been the effect of obedi- 
«nce to Its requisitions. For a large majority of them were destitute of the means 
of returning to their homes, and would have been compelled to enlist to procure a 
subsistence. And a more fatal effect still, would have attended the execution of 
such an order: it would have raised an insuperable obstacle to the procurement in 
future, of volunteer service, for the defence of the country. What was he to do 
under these circumstances? He knew that obedience was the first great duty of a 
soldier; and yet to obey, was to do violence to his feelings of humanity and justice, 
and to cripple the future defence of his country. Influenced by such considera- 
tions, and the belief that the order was given in utter ignorance of the circumstan- 
ces by which he was surrounded, he resolved that disregard of its requisitions, was 
the path of duty. He immediately advised the secretary of war of his determina- 
tion, with a frank avowal of the reasons on which he acted. In opposition to the 
protest of General Wilkinson, and in defiance of the duplicity of his field officers, 
who first approved, and then in secret caucus, advised him to abandon it, he execu- 
ted his detertuination. Surrendering his horse to the sick, he marched on fool 
with his troops to their homes and discharged them in the embraces of their friends. 
At the first glance his conduct appears reprehensible. But in view of the attend- 
ant circumstances and the motives which prompted him, the benevolence of hia 
heart, the generosity of his nature and the unflinching firmness of his will, are pre- 
sented in bold relief and challenge our highest admiration. It was however ap- 
proved, not pardoned, and the expenses of his homeward march, paid by the gov 
ernment. 

He arrived at home in May, 1813, whence, he knew of no existing cause to 
draw him. But the yell of the savage and the shrieks of helpless women and 
children soon aroused him from his rural retreat. The Creek Indians, hitherto 
friendly, have been excited to boslility. They have been tampered with by Brit- 
ish emissaries, deceived and duped by Tecumseh and his brother, wearing the am- 
ulet of a missionary Prophet from the Northern tribes, and supplied with arms 
and amunition by the Spaniards at Pensacola. The whole length of our frontier 
jiresents the most appalling scenes of savage phreuzy, and the deep forests re- 
verberate with the heart chilling echoes of the war-whoop. Fort Mimms has been 
carried by Wetaherford, and three hundred whites murdered without distinctien of 
age or sex. The intelligence of the bloody massacre has reached Tennessee, and, 
quick as electricity, has aroused the indignation of its patriotic citizens. The Gov- 
ernor, by authority of the Legislature, called out thirty-five hundred of the militia, 
and requir-ed General Jackson to assume the command and rendezvous at F'ay- 
etteville at the earliest possible day. Though severely afflicted with a fraclur- 
eJ arm, he did not hesitate. He was not the man to lie supinely while the toma- 
hiwk and scalping knife of the Indian were dripping with the blood of his fellow - 
citizens. He proceeded forthwitb to execute his orders. He appealed to those 
volunteers who had accompanifd him to Natchez, ajid urged them to rush to the 
rescue of their bleeding frontier from savage cruelly. He instructed them to 
rendezvous at Fayetteville on the 4th d^iy ot October, prepared in all respects for 
atcive service. In the mean lime Col. Coffee with five hundred Cavalry was or- 
dered to hasten to Huntsville, for the defence of that region till the infantry could 
arrive. On thcTth (Jeneral Jackson joined his army at Fayetteville, and on the 
lUth, took up his line of march to the scenes of active warfare. He went to 

* Report of the Committee on foreign relations, recommending an appeal to 
Mm?.— June lit, 1812. 



8 

teach the savages a lesson of admouition. He went to make them feel the weight 
of a power which "because it was merciful, th^iy believed impotent" He went 
to push the war into the enemy's country, and fired with Carthageniau fieiceness, 
to avenge the blood of women and children spilt at the massacre of Fort Mimms. 
He animated his troops by the most patriotic and soul-stirring addresses. He 
surmounted difficulties which would have paralysed the energies of any man, less 
devoted to his country and less willing to endure hardships for her sake. H is men 
were undisciplined and uninnred to the privations of the camp, so that, in addi- 
tion to ihe task of instructing them in military evolutions, he had sometimes to si- 
lence their complaiots and suppress mutiny and rebelion. But in the face of such 
obstacles, he prosecuted the Creek campaign to a successful and victorious termin- 
ation. Always cheerful under the most trying circumstances, he was a stranger 
to despondency and discontent. Incessant in vigilance, he was never taken by 
surprise by his stealthy enemy, and persevering in the execution of his plans, he 
was never defeated. He literally hunted down the enemy in their forest hiding 
places, and in six months chastised them into peace and submission. To march 
to battle was to march to victory. On the hard fought fields of Tallush;itchee, 
Talladega, Emuckfaw, Enotichopco and Tohopaca, he crowned his brow with 
Ithe victor's wreath And henceforward, the hardy pioneer pursued his plough 
anraolested, whilst his wife and her helpless infant lay down to rest, freed frrm the 
fear of nocturnal assassination. 

It may be that a series of victories in Indian warfare, do not shed so bright a halo 
around the name of the victor, as similar achievements over a civilized foe. But 
if the deserts of the General are to be computed, by the difficulties encoun ered, 
the privations endured, the fortitude e.vercised, the intellect and genius called in- 
to requisition, and the benefits conferred upon his country, then the history of his 
Creek wars will form one of the brightest chapters in the life of this illus'rious 
itnan. And if in the estimation of distant posterity, they do not compare in fplen- 
dor and magnificence, — in " the pomp and circumstance of war," with (hea- 
chievements of Alexander or Napoleon, they secure to him the undying gral tude 
of his country. 

Many incidents occurred during his Indian campaigns, which exhibit his kind- 
ness and magnanimity as a man, his firmness and courage as a General. On his 
return march to Fort Strother, after the battle of Talladega, being short of provi- 
sions, the impression obtained among the array, that their General was faring 
"sumptuously every day," while they were threatened with starvation. A soldier 
one morning, perceiving him seated at the root of a tree in the act of eating, ap- 
proached him with great humilty, to make known his complaints, hoping at the 
same time to have his hunger relieved. General Jackson replied to him, that 
" it had been a rule of his life, never to turn away a hungry man, when it was in 
his power to relieve him. I will cheerfully divide with you what I have;" and 
accompanying the word with the act, he presented him with a few acorns, and 
added, " it is the best and only fare I have." 

On reaching Fort Strother, he was greatly surprised by not finding expected 
supplies for his troops. Discontentamong his army, which soon ripened into op en 
revolt, was the result. General Jackson resolved to suppress it. And just as 
they were about to move off almost en masse, he drew up the volunteers in front 
of them, and ordered them peremtorily to stop their progress at all hazards. 

On another accasion, while in the act o( deserting their General and abandon- 
ing the cause of their country, he seized a musket, placed himself alone in froi t of 
the column, and declared he would shoot the first man who should attempt to ad- 
'yance. Making due allowance for the difference of circumstances, this furnished 
the reality of the highly wrought picture of firmness, drawn by Sir Walter S lott 
as he describes Fitz James bidding defiance to Roderick Dhu, and his "Clan- 
Alpine warriors," 

" Against a rock his back he bore, 
And firmly placed his foot before. 
" Come one, come all, this rock shall fly, 
From its firm base as soon as I." 

His firmness suppressed their mutinous designs, and saved them and their com try 
from disgrace. These are but specimens of the embarrassments which met bio at 
every step. But he was equal to any emergency. Neither ancient nor modern 
history furnishes a uiore striking example of the sublimity of courage. By some, 

"Itish«-ld, 

That valor is the chiefest virtue and 

Most dignifies the haver; — if it be, 

The man I speak of cannot in the world 

Be singly counterpoised." » « 
His interview with Weitherford, at fort Toulossa, after the final denoujfenienl of 
the battle of Toliopeka, affords a most beautiful example of the high sou led 
magnanimity of Jackson. Feeling that hg was overpowered and that longer re. 
aistetice, were cruelty to his countrymen, he appeared before the American com 



mander to sue for peace. The General said to him "I had directed that you 
should be brought to me confined; and had yon appeared in that way. I shonld 
have known how to treat yon." Weatherford replied, "I am in yonr power, do 
witli me as yon please. I am a soldier, I have done the white people all the harm 
I ciinld. I have fonght them, and fonirht them bravely. If I had an army. I wonid 
yet fight and contend to the last. But I have none. My people are all gone. — 
I oaM now do no more than weap over the misfortunes of my nation." The (Jen- 
eral lelt the kindlings of admiration. Being brave himself, the firm and lofty 
be iringof this Chdd of the Forest, touched a responsive cord in his noble bosom. 
He i^ave VVeatherford his option, either to submit to the teimsof peace (which 
were, that the enemy should remove to the rear of the army, and settle North of 
Fort Williams) or to continue the war. That he might retire and join the war par- 
ty if he pleased, unmolested by his troops and unprejudiced by the interview. — 
The least that VVeatherford could have expected was to he retained as a prisoner 
of war. The bloodstained earth of Fort Mimms cried aloud forvengeance and 
retaliation. How unlike the treatment which Jackson had received at the hands 
of a British ofBcer, when, being a boy, he had the manliness to refuse to perform 
a menial service! 

With this interview terminated the contest with the Creek Indians, which placed 
the name of Jackson high on the catalogue, of our bravest and most skilful milita- 
ry commanders. And in the spring of 1814, he received the appointment of Major 
Genercl of the United Slates to iiil the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of 
William Henry Harrison. 

Having conducted the Creek war with snch signal success, lie was deemed by 
the Goverinnent, the most suitable person, to negotiate the terms of permanent 
peace He was therefore called on to act in a twofold capacity. And on the 
tenth of August, 1814, as special Commissioner of the United States, he succeeded 
in concluding a treaty with the Indians, conformable in its provisions, to the in- 
structions of the Secretary of War. It breathed rather the language o^ demand 
than of contract, was rather a capilulation, than a convention. For such was the 
character of the instructions furnished as the basis of the treaty. *^ By its provis- 
ions, the Indians bound themselves "to listen no more to foreign emissaries — to hold 
no communication with British or Spanish garrisons; guarnteed to the United 
States, the rights of erecting military posts in their country and a free navigation 
of all their waters. They stipulated also, that they would suffer no agent or trader 
to pass amotig them, or hold any kind of commerce or intercourse with their na- 
tion, iinless specially authorised by the President of the United States." 

In the progress of this negotiation, the council insisted as a condition precedent 
to the execution of tiie treaty, on its containing a reservation of certain tracts of 
land; one for Col. Hawkins, one for Mayfield and another for Jackson, as a tol^en 
of gratitude for his exertions in their favor against the hostile Creeks. He at first 
refused his assent to any such reservation. But on reconsideration, seeing that a 
positive refusal w.is not only a waiver of the interests of others, hut a serious im- 
pediment to the conclusion of an important treaty, he finally consented to the re- 
servation, specified in a separate document from that containing the convention, 
with the distinct understanding, that, if ratified by his government, that portion of 
land reserved to himself should be disposed of for the benefit of those Indians who 
had been reduced to poverty and suffering by the war. No action was ever taken 
upon the matter by the Senate. But it stands a perpetual memorial of the benev- 
olence of his heart, and his fidelity to that unbending rule of his life, 7ictcr to make 
his offlciid power subnercicnt to the proinolion of his own primite interest. 

Indications began now to appear at Pensacola, which rendered it necessary that 
Jackson shonld direct his military operations to tiiat point. Governor Manriquez, 
was atfording aid and protection to the Indians who fled from the Creek war. 
British troops were permitted to visit Pensacola with the utmost freedom, and as- 
sociate with the Indians, dressed in British uniforms. An.i he returned a most in- 
solent reply to a letter from General Jackson, requesting ane.xplanition of his con- 
duct. Jackson informed our (jrovernment of these facts, and asked permission tore- 
ducePensacola In the mean time Col, Nichol (a British officer) arrived, issued an 
infl imatory proclamation, to excite the citizens of the United Stales to rebellion, ar- 
ranged his plan of operations, desciplined hi< troops on the neutral soil of Florida, 
and m.ide an unsuccessful attack ii|)on Fort Bowyer, which was garrisoned with 
■I few .American soldiers. What wax in be done.' Was General Jackson to look 
quietly on anil permit these open violations of the laws of nentrHiity, fiy the Span- 
ish (jovernor? Or should he plant the .American Eagle on the walls of Pensacola^ 
Something must be done and thai speedily, to close this door which was thrown 
wid(^ open to the invading foot<tep< of the enemy. To await the inslnrrtions of 
the War Department, were to lose the favorable moment for action. To act ac- 
cording to the convictions of his mind, were to assume a fearful respoiHibilily. 
But he resolved to err, if err he must, on the side of his country. General Coffee 

* Vide, the instructions of the Secretary of War as the proper basis of the trea- 
ty. Eaton's life of Jackson, p. 199. 



10 

having arrived on the spot, with two thousand well armed Tennesseeans, Jackson 
placed himself at their head, took possession of the town, and planted the Ameri- 
can flaj; on itssiirrendered ramparts. Nor did he err. The long delayed letter of the 
Secretary of War,* received subsequently to the transaction, contained the desired 
permission, while the rules of international law, which his clear head and patriotic 
heart anticipated, fully authorised and sustained him. It was a movement of the 
utmost importance to the United States. It dislodged the British from a strong 
position, confused their operations, struck terror to the minds of the Indians and 
taught the Spanish Governor a lesson of respect for our rights, and of obedience 
to the laws of neutrality. 

But Jackson soon relinquished Pensacola, to meet the storm which is now seen 
gathering further south, whose coast is defenceless and unfortified. The vast and 
fei*tnle valley of the Mississippi, scarcely dotted with a sparse and heterogeneous pop- 
ulation tempt the invading footsteps ol the foe. They look to New Orleans as the 
most favorable point of attack; and thitherward. General Jackson, on the 1st of 
December directs his march. On his arrival at the city, he finds the loyal .ilarmed 
and ready to surrender in despair, the disaflfected obstinate in their refusal to as- 
sist in the preparations for common defence, the public functionaries, including a 
large portion of the Legislature conniving at dissatisfaction and complaint 
and the city infested with spies and traitors. Quick as lightning, his great mind 
perceived what was necessary to save the city and the honor of the country, and 
his indomitable will resolved upon its execution He addressed his mighty en- 
ergies to the work; and in a few days the undiciplined militia are drilled and or- 
ganized, the volunteer companies are reviewed and their chivalry animated, ihe 
ditferent forts inspected and made available lor defence, the despairing and horror- 
stricken are inspired with his own hope and coi fidence of victory, disaffection and 
discontent are crushed, and in obedience to the paramount law of necessity, the 
city is placed under martial regulations and literally converted into a vast military 
encampment. On the 16th, the enemies sails are seen on the lakes; on the 23d 
they have landed their forces within seven miles ol the city, and are retarded by the 
vigorous and timely attack of the American forces; on the 28th and again on the 
1st of January, they attack the American lines and seek to execute their plans by 
storm, and on both occasions are repelled with signal loss. By this time the Brit- 
ish have learned, that to invade American soil, they must gain every inch of ground 
by marching over the slain corpses of freemen resolved on victory or "to die in the 
last ditch." But the contest is not yet decided. For eight days the two armies in 
sight of each other upon the same plain, direct their energies to the preparation 
for the final blow. The pride of England, the conquerers of Europe, led by dis- 
tinguished generals were there. Repeated defeats had wound them up to the 
point of desperation; the tarnished honor of their flag must be redeemed; their 
country must not be disappointed in the expected tidings of brilliant victories; the 
world must be amazed at the announcment of the continued prowess of British 
arms. These were the feelings which animated them for the decisive onset, whilst 
the common soldiery were stinnilated, by the promise to be indulged in rioting and 
revelling in the spoils of "Beauty and Booty" as the reward of their brutish cour- 
age. Cautious as Fabius.firm and active as Hannibal, Jackson perseveres day and 
night in making preparations to receive them; and brave as Caesar, he await's their 
attack with undaunted anxiety for the final strife. The morning of the 8th, "big 
with the fateof Caioand of Rome," dawns, and Sir Ew'd Packenham, at the head of 
his ten thousand soldiers well dicipiiued and flushed with fresh conquests upon th« 
battlefields of Europe, attacks with signal fierceness the American lines. Our 
brave army received them with three cheers which "made the welkin ring," and 
then scatered among them with desolating effect the leaden messengers of death. 

"Then shook the hills with thunder riven, 

Then rush'd the steed to battle driven. 

And louder than the bolts of Heaven, 

Far peal'd the dread artillery." 

Packenham and Kean and Gibbsfell; nearly three thousand of their soldiers were 
slain; the enemy terror stricken retreated in confusion; Gen. Lambert in vain 
sought to rally them; the watchword of "BcaM^y and Booty" had no longer any 
charm for the ear of the British soldier; the American Eagle carreering with ma 
jestic wing, swept triumphantly over the battled field, and on the scroll she I ore, 
the inscription of VICTORY glittered in the sunbeams. Henceforth let New Or- 
leans be the Marathon, and Andrew Jackson the Miltiades of America. 

About the last of Jainiary a vague report reached New Orleans of the conclu- 
sion of peace, and the enemy retired to their ships. This furnished a pretext to 
the disaffected, to complain of the longer continuance of martial law, and to ex- 
cite discontent among the American army. With this design Louallier, publish 
ed a communication in one of the city papers, highly seditious in its character, 

* Vide, extract of General Armstrong's letter containing the instructions under 
date of Jnly 18th, 1814. Eaton's life of Jackson, p. 213. 



\ 



11 

which had the effect to cause some of the companies to desert their posts. Jack- 
son immediately arrested iiini on n charge of exciting mntiny. Judge Hall issued 
a writ of Habeas Corpus lor his- release. This created a conflict between the mil- 
itary and civil power. To submit, was to lose all he had gained, and surrender 
the city to sedition, treachery and »he foe. Jackson therefore disregarded the 
mandate of the Judge, and ordered him to be carred beyond the lines of defence. 
Upon the official annunciation of peace, the declaration of martial law was revok- 
ed, Judge Hall returned to the city, and issued a Rule Ni. Si., against Gen. Jack- 
son to show cau.se why he should not be attached for a contempt ^T the authority 
of the Court. Then the military submitted to the civil power, and Jackson ex- 
changed the uniform of the General, for the costume of the citizen. He appeared 
in Court and tendered his defence. But the court refused to hear it, and imposed 
upon him a fine of one thousand dollars for the alleged offence. History furnish- 
es no incident of more thrilling interest or lofiy sublimity. When the great law 
of self preservation demandfe'd it, Jackson had made the military, paratuonnt tO' 
the civil authority. He saved the city from being sacked, the whole Southern ter- 
ritory from the desolating march of the invading foe, and the country from dis- 
grace. In the assumption of a responsibility so fearful,, he acted deliberately, 
coolly, and upon the solemn conviction, that it wa.s the only possible mode of suc- 
cessful defence. For a time it suspended the operation of the civil law and restrain- 
ed the civil liberty of the citizen; but it was lor the ultimate preservation of both. 
Now summoned to appear before the court, how does he act? With the popular 
sympathies at his control, by a nod of his head, he could have kindled a blaze of 
indignation, which would have consumed the incumbent of the bench. But he 
enters stealthily through the anxious crowd, lest his appearance in the court room 
should produce excitement, and stands before the tribunal of his country. And 
when the miirmurings of the populace, 'like the sound of many waters." were 
swelling into irrepressible phrenzy, he said to the multitude "peace be still" and 
pledged his life to the Judge, that the same arm which defended the city, should 
"shield and protect the Court." He bowed to the judgment and paid the fine with- 
out one sylable of complaint. And when, with her heart heavmg with emotions of 
gratitude to the gallant hero, who had defended her from insultand injury — woman 
raised by contribution and tendered him the amount to pay the fine, he declined 
to receive it. He felt that, if he had violated the law of^ his country, it behooved 
him to suffer its penalty; and requested that the sum thus raised by female munifi- 
cence should be distributed among the widows and orphans of those who had fal- 
len in the conflict. 

On the twenty eighth anniversary from the date of the imposition of this fine, it 
was refunded to the veteran hero, by an act of the Congress of the United States, 
passed not hi/ a party vnte. It was not done by his procurement; nor as a boon or 
a charity; nor yet as a testimonial of popular approbation. For the continued con- 
fidence of the people and the enthusiasm with which, they had twice elevated 
him to the highest office in the world, had long since removed all doubt on that 
subject. But it was to meet public sentiment, ^vhich demanded that even the 
"shadow of a shade" of censure should not rest upon his fatne. 

Although the victory of New Orleans terminated the war, and he relumed to 
Tennessee, in the hope of rest, yet he was not permitted to repose long upon his 
laurels. In 1817. he was again summoned to the theatre of Indian warfare. And 
at the head of the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia troops, he inflicted up- 
on the Seminoles summary chastisement, and rescued onr bleeding frontier from 
the horrid scenes of savage cruelty. 

On the acquisition of Florida he was appointed Governor of that Territory, and 
was vested with the sole power of organizing her Government. This done, with 
his accustomed energy, love of republican freedom and enlightened forecast, he 
resigned that office and was elected again by the Legislature of Tennessee to the 
Senate of the United States. In 1822, he was nominated by the same body as a 
candidate for the Presidency. He contested the field warmly in the campaign of 
1824 with Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and William H. Craw'ford, and re- 
ceived a numercal majority of the popular vote. But neither candidate having a 
majority of the Electoral Colleges, the choice forPresidentdevolved on the House 
of Representatives of the United States, who elected Mr. Adams. This disregard 
of the popular will. increa.sed the enthusiasm of the people for Jack.son, and on 
the 4th of March 1829, he was in.stalled into the F.xeculive office by a vote of 
nearly two thirds of the Electoral Colleges, and was re-elected in 1832, a second 
term, by a vole still more flattering. 

The event of his elevation to the Executive chair, was one of intense interest to 
the people of the United States. Many of the abuses had crept into the adminis- 
tration of the government, which Mr. Jeffercon had predicted would alway.x be 
the result of a latitudinarian construction of the Federal Constitution To correct 
these, was a labor, as delicate, as it was arduous. Was .Xudrew Jackson the man 
for the crisis? This wa.s the question whose solution was to be determined by ex- 
periment. The people had decided at the ballot box, that he was and unquestion- 
ably that decisiotrwas predicated mainly upon their admiialion of iiis military ser- 



12 

vices, lie had not (iistin^iiished liiin^Hlf as a statesman accompli'ilied in tlie re- 
fineriientd of political science. But it w.is known tli;it his heart was in thi^ right 
place; thai he was devoted to his country anJ nueqiiivocailv identified witli the 
Re^iuttlican school. Of this, his p ist life furnished plenary evidence. He had 
exhi;)ite4it, in the enlarged freedom which be advocated in the Convention which 
formed the constitution of Tennessee, in the organization of the territorial govern- 
ment of Florida, in the reasons which he assigned, for declining the appointment 
of jiiiinster to the Court of Ilnrhide,* and in the position which he always occu- 
pie I in the ranks of the Repuhlican party, on all great questions, involving the 
charMcieristic ditl'erences o( principle bcitween them and the federalists. And in 
addiinm to this, he had shown, in his military career, mind and energy equal to any 
emergency. The result has proven that the decision of the people was not erro- 
neous, aud that their confidence was not misplaced. His administration will con- 
stiinte the brightest chapter of his public life, and an era in the annals of onr gov- 
ertiinent, as rem irkable for the benefits which it ft«»#«iiwd upon the country, as for 
tht iHlterness with which it was assailed and denounced ■ 

Of the particular measures of his admimstration, it does not become me to 
speak, inasmuch as many of them were and continue to be the subjects of party 
discussion. Let the feelings of gratitu le and reverence with which, we all gather 
round the tomb of the departed patriot, be undisturbed by any remark which m.ay 
kindle the sleeping embers of political strife. His historian will do him ample 
justice. If he has' committed errors, posterity, whose decisions will be impartial, 
mil t cerrect them. But 1 may consistently with the proprieties of the occasion, 
say that he presided over the federal Government for eight years: that his policy 
underwent the closest, severest, most uns|)aring and able animadversion and scru- 
tiny, that it passed through the fiery ordeal and was sustained by as large a ina- 
joritv of the people as have ever railed to tlie support of any administration save 
Washington's; that that majority bdkvcd a.t least, that it was republican and in ac- 
cord nice with the Constitution; that his policy has since been twice approved by 
the people, in the election of two statesmen to the oflice of Chief Magistrate, both 
his ho.soni friends, and pledged to adhere to and carry out that policy; and that 
right or wrong, all parties in the midst of heated contest, awarded to him, purity of 
palriotisiu and honesty of purpose. And perhaps as a Georgian I may venture 
tiie opinion without offence, that, the steadiness with which he addressed himself 
to the extinguishment of the Indian title to land, and the uprightness with which 
he stood by her, in the maintainanceof her sovereignty within her territorial limits, 
raise in behalf of his memory, peculiar claims upon the grealitnde of onr beloved 
State. Nor can it be an unplesant reminiscence, that the public debt was extin- 
guisiied, during his administration. 

(.)f his firmness of resolution, of his consistent adherence to his avowed policy, 
of his fidelity to his pledges to the country, of his disregard to the effect of his mea- 
sures upon his own popularity, it is right to speak. For these are the elements 
which entered into the constittition of his nature. He could not have been true 
to himself, or to the high impulses which God gave him. if. after having periled all 
upon them, even lifie itself, in the battlefield, he had not exhibited them in the cabi- 
net. These traits are written in capitals upon the very front of his administra- 
tion. The philippics of party denunciation could never drive him from his posi- 
tion Firm as a rock in the tempest wrought ocean, he stood, and the waves were 
dasiied into spray as th^y come into contact with his granite resolves. Nor could 
^e he, intimidated by the faltering of his friends. It was vain, to whisper in his 
ear, the fear of rendering his administration unpopular, or suggest the dread of 
heavy responsibility. "I assume tlic rcsijonsibilitij." i^tnick them with speechless 
silence. There is moral sublimity in the steadiness of nerve with which he pen- 
ned tiis vetoes, the coolness and calmness with which he looked upon the gathering 
storm of nullification, and with poteni voice proclaimed, ••</ie Union must and shall 
be preserved,' and in the giant inusciilarily with which he pl.inted his iron heel up- 
on the Bank. It was like the tread of ihe Behemoth upon the cringing worm. 

The singleness of his devotion to the Union of the Slates, is a prominent fea- 
ture of his administration. He was a close observer of tiie growth of our Re- 
pnltlic from its infuicy. He knew of the agonising throes of that great political 
convulsion which gave it hirih; what millions of treasure, and what sacrifice of the 
best blood of freemen it cost; and that it was the result of the most rlisinterested 
pairidtism, the most enfmhted wisdom and the most in ignanimous compromises, 
that history records. In his very soul, he believed the existence of onr liberty, to be 
suspended upon the perpetuation of our Union. This feeling animated all his 
public messages, and seemed to lie at the foundation of his whole system ofdo- 
mesnc policy. And in his last parting words to his countrymen, when about to 
bid adieu to public service, he reiterated the noble legatty beipieathed us, by the 
Father o( his Country. "If" .said he "the Union is once severed, the line ofsep- 

* 'fe said that the "appearance of an American envoy witii credentials to tiie 
tyrant Itiirbide. might aid him in riviting the chains ol despotism upon a country 
which of right ought to be free." 



13 

aration will grow wider and wider, and the controversies which are now dehoted 
and .-iettled in the halls of Legislation, will then be tried in the fields of hatlle and 
determined by the sword." »*♦***« 
"In the Union of these States there is a sure foundation for the brightest hopes of 
freedotnand for the happiness of the people. At every hazard and by every sai lilice. 
this Union must be pres,?rve<i " * Noble sentiments! Let thcni be laiifht to our 
children as we teach them the precepts of the Chri-tian Religion. Let them be 
inscribed in letters of gold on every politician's banner. 

His state papers are all remarkable docnments. Remarkable for the intimate 
acquaintance which they exhibit with the workings of onr political system, in all its 
extensive and complicated rainitications. Remarkable for the perspicuity of iheir 
style, the vigor of their tiioiiglits. and ilie logical power of their arguments Ke- 
markable for the lofty strain of patriotism which animates them, and the purity of 
moral sentiment which pervades them. Remarkable for their independence, tlieir 
frank avowals of principles and policy, their freedom from deniagogiieism, and 
from all effort to pander to the passions of the populace. An admiiiistration char- 
acterised by such qnalificafions in its head, could not fail to inipres- itself upon the 
American people. It.seciired their confidence, and inspired them every where 
withatlection and veneration for their own republican institutions. 

In the management of our foreign relations, no administration has ever been 
more successful; none has d >ne more to adjust unsettled questions with other go- 
vernments, to increase our CDinnierciai connexions, nnd to gain for the United States 
the respect of all nations He coninienced with a determination ''to ask noiliing 
that was not clearly right, and to submit t'> nothing that was wrong;" — a most sound 
rule of action either for individuals or governments. By his inflexible adherence 
to it, together with the tinii. yi'i respectful and pacific tone with which, he insisted 
upon the rights of our goverimient, he procured for the United States most valua- 
ble benefits. He restored the trade of the West Indies, opened a free passage to 
and from the Black sea. and placed our commerce with Turkey on the same loot- 
ing with the most favored nations. He obtained indemnities from Sweedeh Den- 
mark. Bra7:il and the two Sciiies for spoliations on our commerce. And after 
twenty years d( !av, and alter she had thrown herself upon her ofl^ended dignity, 
and sought to e.xtort a humiliating acknowledgment from our government, France 
was forced by Ins firm less to comply with the solemn stipulations of her treaty, 
and pay the indemnity which she long acknowledged to be due to the United States, 
for her unjustifiable aggressions upon our naval trade. 

That (ien Jack-^on ni^y have erred, it is due to candor to admit; — to say he 
did not, would he to a.ssert thai he was not human. But his administration is 
neveriheless marked by consummate ability, and throws around our govern- 
ment a lustre ol which posterity will be justly proud. 

I liave now. fellow citizens, completed my imperfect outline, of the public career 
of ilu- illustrious patriot nf the Hermitage. I liave proceeded upon the consider- 
ation, that his actions properly viewed, constitute his best eulogy, and have for- 
borne to intersperse the narative, with the many interesting reflections which are 
■0 natiirnlly suggested. Crude as is the sketch, it portrays the lineaments of one of 
the most remarkable personages, of whom history keeps the record. Originating 
in the walks of virtuous and respectable obscurity, without the patronage of th* 
great, by the inherent energies of his own mighty intellect, he forced himself up- 
on the astonishment and admiration of the world, and in the language of South 
Carolina's gifted son, has impressed ''his own character upon the times in which 
he lived.'' His ch.iracter is a mora) wonder in the history of our race, and stands 
out alone, in the solitude of time, like a stupendous pyramid, rising in colossal 
magnificence untill it seems to bathe its apex in the etherial blue. His life, — how 
full of toil, of heroic daring, of romantic adventure, of privation and suflering. 
Its fruits — how valuable to his country and the cause of humanity! 

How is it, that one man accomplished so much? What is the secret of his Iri- 
nn)ph over obstacles the most embarrassing, and of his unparallelled success in all 
the great and stupendous undertakings of his life? In every situation in which he 
was placed, his capabilities rose and expanded with the emergencies of the occa- 
sion, until he emphatically made himself the masterspirit of the scene. He had 
the power at all times to shape the means to suit the end he had in view, whether 
those means consisted in the instrumentality of human agency, or the skilful com- 
bination and arrangement of inanimate materials. Why was it thus in reference 
to (Jeneral Jackson.' He had an intellect of most gigantic structure; so all-grasping 
in its operations and rapid in its movements, that, with the speed o( light, it leaped 
from premise to conclusion, without travelling through the tardy process of ra'io- 
cination,by which, men usually form their opinions The scintillationsof his genius 
wt-re so luminous, thathis mind never moved in the dark. His teniperamentwasso 
sanguine, and his impulses so honest, that a shadow of doubt, as to thecorrectne.s.sof 
his canclusions. .scarcely ever passed over his mind. His will was so virtuous, ao 
indefatigable, so unyielding, bo indomitable, so intensly bent upon success, that it 

* Vide, Jackson's farewell address. 



•14 

imparted a kind of omnipotence to his energies. To these extraordinary endow - 
meiits. he added the moral C()\irage, to corniniuie with truth wherever she led him, 
and 10 dare to (Jo ri|irht. rcgardleissof all consequences. He was candid, sincere, 
warm-hearted, truthful None could associate with him and not feel an instinctive 
consciousness of the majisty of lus presence. It beamed from liis animated eye; 
it burned upon his inspired lipM and ere you were aware of it, you found yourself 
carried away, sympathisii.ii^ with the magic suasion of his earnestness, and yielding 
asssent to his opmions and conclusions. 

Some have thought his control over men was the result of a tyrannical and des 
potic nature. This might be true, if his influence had been limited to the govern- 
ment of the ignorant, the weak and the helpless. But it extended over men of 
high intelligence, and the incumbents of official station, who would have scorned 
the dictator's sceptre. And besides, he was no tyrant, no despot in his feelings. 
Where can you point to an instance of his oppressing ihe weak, or lording it over 
the defenceless? If this had been his nature, think you he would have bowed so 
submissively to the weak and imbecile Judge who punished him for an alledged 
contempt of his authority, when at his beck, the populace was ready to tear his 
Honor in pieces? Think you. he would have exhorted them to order, silence, and 
acquiescence? 'fhink you, his interview witli VVeatherford, (to which allusion has 
been made.) would have resulted in so remarkable a display of Immanity and gen- 
erosity? No, fellow eitizens, he was ho tyrant. He was too magnanimously brave, 
and his heart WHS too full of generous sensibilities. His sway over men sprang ■ 
from no such attribute of his nature. It was the influence of a great mind over 
smaller, attraction by a law o!' gravitation, whose existence in the moral world, is as 
palpable as that in nature, which preserves harmony in the vast mechanism ol the 
Solar System To come in contact with him in the moment of animated discussion, 
or when great measures were to be speedily divised for the execution of impor- 
tant designs, was to come within the sphere of an influence as potent as enchant- 
ment. 

And whence, his unbounded sway over the American mind, and his strong hold 
upon the implicit confidence of the great mass of the people ? In some degree, 
it was doubtless the eflect of gratitude for his public services. But the popular 
veneration and devotion which ciuslered about Andrew Jackson, had their found- 
ation m a feeling far more fundamental. The great political sentiment which per- 
vades the mass of the American mind is Republicanism; republicanism as con- 
tradistinguished from every other form of government ; — Republicanism as it 
looks to the social and political equality of every freeman, to a just distribution of 
the ourdens and blessings of (iovernmeut, to the protection of the weak agamst 
the strong, and the shielding the laboring and producing classes from the exactions 
which associaled wealth and privileged monopolies are prone to extort from tlie 
fruits of their toil; — Republicanism which unt"< Hers industry, capital, enterprise, 
com iierce, conscience, mind. This is the Kepublicani-in of America. General 
Jack.-<on was the embodiment, the personiticaiion. aye. the incarnation of this ali- 
pe vading. sentiment which fills the minds of the freemen of this land. He feltit 
in i\i> very bones ; for they rejected the pomti of an imperial burial "I cannot," 
said he, "permit my remains to be the first in these United States, to be deposited 
in a Sarcophagus made for an emperor or king." This, this is what enthroned 
hill) in the hearts of his couiiirymen. 

fellow-citizens, we cannot appreciate, the labors and services of this great 
man He was the representative of two centuries ; — he linked them both togeth- 
er b* his unceasing toil for us. Oh! what hardships he enduied, what labor he 
pen'ormed, what sacrifices he made of personal ease and comforti I say again 
we cannot appreciate them. They transpired amid the rugged scenes of frontier 
life, and in the days when a great part of our country was a wilderness, traversed 
only by the Indian in pursuit of the bounding deer. But those days have flown, 
and carried with them the tomahawk and scalping knife, and left behind them the 
blessmgs of well organised society, the refinements of civi.iz.ition and the sweet* 
of domestic peace and security. In the Providence of Ijod, Jackson was the 
in-striunent of invaluable blessings to us, to posterity and to the world; — whilst we 
icommeniorate the virtues of the departed patirot, let our hearts swell with emo- 
tions of sincere gratitude to the Giver of all ;;ood. 

We approach that period when his public career terminated. Now he descends 
from the toppling heights of political life ; and his farewell counsels and benedic- 
tions are responded to by the greatful plaudits of an admiring nation. Hitherto 
we have seen him the master-spirit in the .«.torm of battle, or guiding the ship of 
State over Ihe angry billows of political strife. Hitherto we have contemplated 
the ocean tossed and fretted by the howling winds; now we are to gaze upon it 
after the winds have retired, and its glassy surface mirrors forth the beauty of the 
azure Heaven. Now we can survey its peaily depths, and look into its pure 
trausparent waters. What a magnificently glorious retirement! What mellow 
fiunshine succeeds the storm ! Alexander pushed his conquests over the thea 
known world, and siiccee ting ages are amazed at his desolating career. But in 
retirement, with ambition unsatiated, he wept because there were not other 



15 

worlds to conquer. He fought for glory and conquest, regardless of humanity 
and the weal of his kind. With him, the past was populated with spectres which 
haunted his couch, and in the future he could see no more Wood to drink. For 
power of intellect and brilliency of genius, Napoleon had few superiors. As a 
general he shook Europe with his victories, and the world trembled at the men- 
tion of bis name. Yet he ended his days on the desolate Island of St. Hslena, 
brooding in sadness, over his disappointed ambition and prostrate hopes. Not sa 
with Andrew Jackson. Every thing around him only reminded him of the good 
he had done. The fertile VVe.st with her teeming population, hailed him as the 
hero that had defended her from British invasion and savage cruelty. His adopt- 
ed State cherished him as one of the fathers of her admirable Constitution The 
Union venerated him us its saviour. Civilized man contemplated him as one of 
the noblest specimens of humanity; and the representatives of foreign thrones 
did him homage. With him the past was crowded with the richest reminiscences 
of his activity and usefulness ; the present afforded the sublime view of a "great 
people, prosperous and happy, in the full enjoyment of liberty, and respeeted by 
every nation of the world;" ♦ and the future kindled into extatic visions of the 
progressive glory of his country, destined to embrace within her boundary the 
Western verge, where the Pacific wave dances in the beams of the setting sun. 

To the Hermitage he repairs — the seat of tender associations, the hallowed 
resting place of the remains of his departed companion. The energies of his 
frame are worn down with public toil. He requires rest; but restcannot bring back 
\he vigor and strength of manhood's prime, or stay the stealthy marcli of disease, 
which has invaded his constitution. But he is mighty still. His great intellect un- 
impaired, glows and brightens amid the decay of the falling temple that enshrines 
it. His full gushing heart, prolific as ever in generous and warm emotions, sends 
out its fervid aspirations for the prosperity of his country, and the perpetuity of 
her liberties, communes as freely and sympathises as fondly with vjilut-d friends, 
and responds as promptly to the claims of charity and the rites oi hospitality. He 
kept up his intercouri3e,with the leading men of the country and interested himself 
in all that pertained to the welfare of the government. To his mansion, ever 
open to all, his friends from the renmtest parts of the Lfnion, made their pilgrim- 
age, to enjoy his conversation for a little season. And in his reception of the 
visits of his fellow-citizens no distinction was made ; — the poor, the humble and 
the illiterate were welcomed as cordially, as the wealthy, the renowned and the 
learned. 

In no man were ever the high attributes of greatness, blended in more beau- 
teous harmony, with the gentler qualities of the heart, which shed their ladiance 
over the family hearth. It is too often the case that men, who have devoted them- 
selves to public life, lose all their relish for the quiet scenes and sweet endear- 
ments of home. The appetite fo|[ excitement becomes diseased, and in its fever- 
ed action, consumes the so(t susceptibilities of the heart, which flouri.sh best with- 
in the precincts of the domestic circle. Not so with General Jackson. Nature 
fitted him for the highest and most absorbing pursuits of the warrior and the states- 
man, and yet he was gentle and kind and aflectionate in all the relationships of 
private life ; — remarkable (or the unaflected simplicity of his manners and tiie pa- 
ternal suasivenessof his social intercourse. Like Ossian's descripiioti of a hero, 
if" in war he was the mountain storm, in peace he was the gale of spring.' The 
highest evidence of the amiability and gentleness of his heart, was the unabated 
devotion with which, to the day of his death, he cherished the memory of his wife. 
He wore her miueratiire about his person, and always spoke of her with the suD- 
dued tenderness of falling tears. The anticipation of resting by her side in the 
grave, seemed to rob death of its terrors ; the hope of being re-united to her in 
Heaven, seemed to qiticken and animate his devotions. Having no relations of 
his own, with the constancy of faithful Ruth, he made his wife's people his people, 
and her God his God ; and where she died, he would die and there be buried. He 
adopted them to his bosom, conferred upon them his name, and bestowed upon 
them the solicitude and care of a father's fondness. 

Now disengaged from the distracting cares of public life, memory makes its pil- 
grimage to his mother's grave. And oh! the many softening and subdueingre- 
miniseuces th-it waketo life from the tomb of by-gone days. Her affection, her pray- 
ers, her lessons of piety, — these come up before him, as fresh and vivid, as when in 
life'syoung morning, they fell warm from the lips of maternal fondness. The nigged 
scenes of life have not blunted the keen sensibilities of his tender heart. That 
faith in the Bible, in God. in Providence, in the retributions of Eternity, which 
was planted in his breast by a mother's hand, though it may not have germinated 
into the fruits of practical piety, has remained with him. through all the vicissi- 
tudes of his checkered pilgrimage; "and now vivified by the Spirit's breath, it 
leads him to the Cro.ss of Calv iry. Voii see yon edihce embowered in trees, .so 
humble and uuosteutitious in its appearance as scarcely to attract the notice of the 
passing traveller ? — It is the Hermitage Chapel, which has been reared in part, by 

* Vid, Jackson's farewell address. 



16 

the munificence of the venerable tenant of that rural retreat. And now it is the 
holy Sabbath morning, rendered more charming, by the brightness of nature's 
beauty and the harmony of nature's minstrelsy. The people have assembled to 
wor.ship the Most High ; the man of God has delivered his message of love and 
warning; the hour of sacramental communion has arrived; amid the swelling 
melody of Heavenly n)usic. the saints are galheiing 'round the banquet table of a 
Saviour's love. Audio! what manly form is that peering above the solemn 
throng? — Mark his silver locks, his tottering tread, the tear that steals down his 
furrowed cheek? — It is Andrew Jackson. The victor of many a hard-fought bat- 
tle field, the retired ruler of a nation of freemen and the master spirit of the most 
thrilling scenes of earthly turmoil ! — He enlists now as a private soldier in the army 
of the Lord, and with the docility of a little child, he takes his seat at the feet of 
Jesus. 

Andrew Jackson was never truly great till then; for, in the language of Dr. 
Young, 

" A Christian is the highest style of man." 

Henceforth until death, he acknowledged his dependence on God and his belief 
of the reality of the religion of the IJible. And faithful to the innate impulses of 
his character, he lived consistently with his profession? and with apostolic boldness 
proclaimed them to the world. He felt the power of the Christian's faith, and en- 
joyed the consolations of that hope which it inspires. Every Sabbath, when his 
health would allow, found him in the sanctuary, and the domestic altar burned 
da.ly with the incense of family devotion. 

The longer he lived and the more closely he observed the workings of our po- 
litical system, the more forcibly did he feel the truth of what he always acknowl- 
edged, that popular intelligence and public virtue are the two great pillars on 
which our fabric of government stands. To be capable of self government, the 
people must be enlightened to know how to govern — they must be virtuous, to 
give to that knowledge proper direction. This intelligence and morality the Bible 
furnishes. Therefore as a patriot he clasped it to his bosom and said, ' it is the bul- 
vvork of our liberties, the anchor of our present, and future safety." Its wisdom 
and virtue are inculcated into the u)ind. with most effect in the susceptible period 
of youth. And therefore he urged the continuation of the Sunday School, and said 
he considered 'this new system, which blended the duties of religion with those 
of humanity of vast importance." 

My countrymen, shall we deduce nothing valuable from the testimony of such 
a man as Andrew Jackson, to the truth of the Bible and the importance of Sab- 
bath School instruction ? We attach weight to his political opinions, shail his 
religious and moral sentiments go for nought? No, no; — let them be written 
with the point of a diamond on the heart of every patriot, and every Christian ; 
and let them prilsy the tongue of infidelity with everlasting silence. 

And now the hand of death is upon him ; he feels his iron fingers untie his heart 
strings one by one. His labor on earth is done, and kind angels beckon his spirit 
homeward to the skies His household are summoned to his bedside to receive 
his blessing and his last farewell. Like .Facob, the patriarch of Israel, * 'he called 
all his little grand children, with the other members of his family around him ; fie 
took his grand children by the hand, blessed and kissed them tenderly, told them, 
they had good parents, that they must be obedient children, keep holy the Sabbath 
day. and read the New Testament. »*********! am my 
God's — I belong to Him — I go but for a short time before you, and I want to meet 
you all. w'lite and black, in Heaven." So saying his body ceased from pain — his 
spirit rested with Jesus. 

" How onr hearts burn within us at the scene ! 
Whence this brave bound o'er limits fix'dtoman? 
His God sustains him in his final hour ! 
His final hour brings glory to his God ! 
Mt^n's glory Heaven vouchsafes to call her own. 
We gaze, we weep ! — mix'd tears of grief, of joy .' 
Amazement strikes ! devotion bursts to flame! 
Christians! adore, and Infidels! believe.^' 



* It cannot fail to interest the Bible reader to compare the last moments of the 
Patriarch of the Hermitage, with those of Jacob, the patriarch of Israel.— Fid. 
Genesis, Ch. xlviii. 



W 8 



-(J,' y^ 



^^ v^: 










o > 










A^- 










>A 




^^ 0» ^Mbmi6^fr.\ '^JU r^ ' o «^^I0|'- ^o V^ 



.. .^ .^^^^ ^^^^^^ .Jj5^^, ^^^^^^ ,m^', ^^ 



^^0^ 
^^°<^ 













^0 ^^ 



















,V V^ 













^ *,^T» A 



^oV" 




BOOKBINDINC I "^^ ' • • • aV ^*^ -^ 



m. 



f" 











'oK 



'>o^ 



